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Salmonella Cases Linked to Sheetz C-stores on the Rise

PITTSBURGH - Up to 70 cases of salmonella poisoning throughout Pennsylvania had been linked to a deli product sold at Sheetz convenience stores by Friday afternoon, and the Pennsylvania Department of Health said it expected the number to continue to increase throughout the weekend.

July 18, 2004, 08:00 pm

PITTSBURGH - Up to 70 cases of salmonella poisoning throughout Pennsylvania had been linked to a deli product sold at Sheetz convenience stores by Friday afternoon, and the Pennsylvania Department of Health said it expected the number to continue to increase throughout the weekend.

The Altoona, Pa.-based retailer was "very quick to respond," a Pennsylvania health department spokesman told Progressive Grocer. The chain pulled the lettuce and Roma tomatoes suspected of causing the illness, switched produce suppliers, and disinfected its sandwich counters at more than 300 stores in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.

As of Friday, no other retailers had been linked to the salmonella cases, the health department spokesman said. However, he said the number of cases was expected to continue to increase, since there tends to be a lag in getting test results.

Coronet Foods, of Wheeling, W.Va., which supplies produce to Sheetz, said it stopped buying and processing Roma tomatoes while it conducts its own investigation. The company also quarantined its remaining inventory, reorganized the tomato processing line, and notified growers and suppliers.

In a statement, Coronet officials noted that sliced Roma tomatoes make up 1 percent of their line, and most of it is distributed to Sheetz.